Saturday, September 11, 2010

Gameday: Rebels @ Leafs

Castlegar and Nelson will do it all over again tonight (7:00 PM, NDCC Arena) after an opener last night that saw the Rebels skate to a 3-0 shutout win on home ice. Taylor Anderson, Dylan Richardson and Erik Wentzel tallied for the Rebels, while Andrew Walton made 19 saves for the victory. It was a game that started slowly, with both teams looking nervous in the early going, but the first goal seemed to help Castlegar gain momentum as they forced Nelson into numerous missed breakout passes and icings.

Our Opponent: Nelson coach Chris Shaw is likely hoping his troops have a quick learning curve, but despite being shut out, they did have a few bright spots. The pairing of Taylor O'Neil and Braeden Hikichi was solid on the blue line, and the Leafs' top two lines, particularly the Colton Schell-Gavin Currie-Cody Abbey group can certainly do some damage on the scoreboard.

Broadcast Info: Matt Soper will have the call on Leafs pay-per-view tonight beginning at 7:00. The KIJHL and their broadcast partner, playfullscreen.com, are offering everyone a chance to watch the games for free until September 24th.

Out of Town: Another full night in the KIJHL, two of the other three Neil Murdoch division teams are in action as Beaver Valley visits Spokane. The Nitehawks came from behind to edge Grand Forks 4-3 in the Boundary last night.

Bits & Bites: Interesting to note BV's backup goaltender last night was Zach Perehudoff, who was a late cut of the Trail Smoke Eaters. Former Nitehawk Scott Morisseau scored his first goal as a Fernie Ghostrider in a 5-1 win at Kamloops last night. Kelowna lost their opener, 3-2 in Osoyoos last night, both their goals were scored by former Nelson Leafs (Landon Andrusiak and Dane Rupert).